Hear Me
by Pinkchick
Summary: Duncan didn’t answer, he just said, “Hey, baby! Yer missin’ out on a great party, y’know.” “You’re drunk, Duncan,” Jean declared. What happens at a party that gets out of hand? Jean finds herself in a situation she may not be able to handle on her own. Ra


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Disclaimer: I don't own. You don't sue. So, in the end, we're all happy!

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Author's Note: Hey all. Well, I'm finished with writing my new story. Lately, songs have been having a deep influence on my story writing mood and this is the end product. Actually, I had started writing this story back in April and I had never gotten around to finishing it. But, thanks to **Sweet-destiny3 **and all of her prodding, it was she who got me to finish this story, finally! This story is dedicated to her patience, most days! That and I suddenly had an urge to finally get it over with so that I could move on to other stories and all that other good stuff. So, I bring you my latest story and I hope that you like it because it really took up all my energy in trying to make it good. So you know the usual: **Read, _Review, _but most of all, ENJOY! **Now, on with the show…

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Hear Me

By: Pinkchick

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The room roared like thunder as the incessant racket blared all around her. The crowd of people was suffocating. A face frantically searched the throng of people swimming in a sea before her. She was searching for a familiar face. One familiar face. Jean Grey suddenly cast a panicked look across the crowded dance floor full of classmates. Drunken classmates. There he was… but, it wasn't the person she was most desperate to find. The red head turned in the direction that would lead her farthest away from the blond man across the room.

Jean Grey looked exasperated. Her supposed boyfriend, Duncan Matthews, had said that this party wouldn't get out of hand. It looked as though he had been wrong. It had gotten completely out of hand within the hour that she had been there. And what was worse was that her best friend, Scott Summers, had magnificently disappeared without a trace. His words echoed in her head as the sound system boomed next to her eardrum. _If you need me, you know what to do… _Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

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Being a mutant, she could've easily called on Scott with her telepathy, but it was far too loud to even try to concentrate. Jean slowly receded into the background of the immensely loud crowd of partygoers. Thankfully, no one noticed as she found her way into an unlocked bedroom and closed the door behind her with a soft click. Oh, whom was she kidding? No one would have heard that anyway, with all the clamor that was going on outside. The throbbing in her head was coming to a low thud behind her right temple as Jean sat on the large queen sized bed.

The music was still booming and shaking the walls as if threatening them to defy it. Finally, though, thinking became much easier for Jean in this room. At least there was no one around. Slowly, she started to contemplate why in the world she had dragged herself, and Scott, for that matter, to this pitying excuse of a party. Jean thought for a few moments as she clutched her right temple, her headache still very much there. Oh, yes, now she remembered. She had been invited by her indifferent jock (not that she liked labeling people) boyfriend. He had firmly stated that his parents weren't going to be in town this weekend. Jean had reluctantly agreed to go, but only if she could bring Scott too.

Jean had to smile at that as she recalled the conversation with Duncan. He had rolled his eyes, asking why that "scuzzo" had to come, too. Jean knew how much Duncan hated her best friends. And, well, Scott also hated Duncan with an almost infinite passion. To put it bluntly: they were both as different as night and day… although Duncan thought that Scott begrudged the night and was more of a daytime person. Jean stifled a laugh. No one, except for the residents of the Xavier Institute, knew why Scott wore ruby quartz glasses all the time. The excuse was that he had an "eye condition", as Scott liked to call it. Well, that was almost true in a way. Scott did have an eye condition, but not in the way most people thought. The ruby quartz glasses were the only thing capable of keeping his optic blasts at bay before they pulverized the first thing that leapt into Scott's vision.

It had taken a lot of begging and pleading to get Scott to accompany her to Duncan's party. Jean couldn't exactly disagree with him as to why he didn't want to come. The last time Scott had attended the blonde's party, he had been drenched from head to foot in pool water. Jean winced at that thought. That was actually her fault. Her powers hadn't exactly been taming themselves during that period of time. Luckily, they had come back into check, thanks to Professor Xavier, everyone's mentor at the institute, and a very firm believer in the peaceful coexistence of mutants and humans. The X-men were the ones who tried to put that plan into motion, but as of now, were not allowed to reveal themselves for fear of what everyone would do and say.

Finally, out of sheer goodness or Jean's puppy dog eyes (she didn't know which), Scott had most reluctantly agreed to come with her. Most of her friends at the mansion couldn't believe Jean sometimes. She was either oblivious or blind to the fact that Scott liked her as more than just a friend. It was almost sending the residents into overdrive at her lack of acknowledgement to that very fact. She still, however, thought of Scott as her best friend who would most certainly be there when she needed him. And that brought Jean to her current predicament. If Scott did say that he would be there when she needed him — in which Duncan was most certainly not an option — then where was he? He couldn't be very far, could he?

At these thoughts, Jean tentatively raised her hands to the sides of her temples. Maybe she could finally try to contact him. Just as she thought her headache had gone and her eyes were on the verge of closing, the door to the bedroom burst open with a violent bang. A little too violently, to say the least. Jean jumped at the sound and immediately lost her concentration. Her eyes snapped open as she looked up at the wide open door and at the intruder who was leaned against the frame of the doorway. The party that was still going on behind him continued to sound off wild music and looked almost like a scene at a zoo, in which now, though, the students were the wild animals. Jean placed a hand to her heart, which was still pounding at the sudden intrusion.

"Duncan!" Jean exclaimed, surprise obviously in her voice. "You-you scared me." Duncan didn't reply. He just staggered into the room with a beer in his hand, looking dazed. His eyes were narrowed and his disposition was very unbalanced as he tried to stay standing in one place without falling over. Jean unconsciously stood up from the bed and moved away from him, looking scared. "Duncan, you've been drinking, haven't you." It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

Duncan didn't answer, he just said, "Hey, baby! Yer missin' out on a great party, y'know."

Duncan took a large swig of his beer and then took to dropping it on the floor. The empty bottle rolled around for a few seconds and then stopped, making the room deathly silent, even though a cacophony of noises was still pounding its way into the bedroom. Jean was startled at Duncan's slurred statement and started slowly heading for the door.

"You're drunk, Duncan," Jean declared. "You promised there'd be no drinking." He just narrowed his eyes at her.

"Aw, c'mon, I only had a few beers. 'S nothin' ta worry 'bout," Duncan slurred out again.

"Are you insane!" Jean almost shouted, although she could barely hear herself over the crowd of people outside. The exit was so close and she had to get out of there. "It's over, Duncan. I'm finding Scott, and we're leaving."

Jean was just a few feet away from the door when Duncan violently yanked at her arm and flung her backwards. Her back hit the small nightstand next to the bed. The mass of her red hair came down around her as she struggled to sit up, leaning heavily on the stand. She glanced back at Duncan with her eyes narrowed, a feeling of fear and panic creeping into her bones. Her boyfriend now looked more violent than she had ever seen him before in her life. Jean widened her eyes as he moved forward towards her.

"Why are you always hangin' around with Scuzzo Summers anyway?" Duncan asked. "He ain't no better than me. In fact, I'm ten times as good lookin' than him, Jeannie. So, what's he have that I don't got, huh? Shades?" Duncan laughed at his own sardonic joke.

Jean had finally stood up, pain shooting through her back as she immediately chanced a glance behind her. There was a phone on the other side of the bed and Jean knew that she had to get to it. She could call Scott. Seeing as her panic and horror were not helping her concentrate in this situation. Duncan was almost near her, but Jean beat him before he could get to her. She dodged him and made her way around the bed towards the phone.

Unfortunately for Jean, Duncan had leapt onto the bed and had made it to the phone before her. He had already taken the phone line out of the wall, thrown the phone off of the dresser and onto the floor with a resounding crash. Jean jumped, in fear and in surprise at the violence that he had shown. Jean had never seen Duncan behave in this way before. It was almost scary the way he started to advance on her. Jean immediately made her way farther into a corner of the room, hitting her head on one of the tables. Her vision swam before her eyes for a moment as she tried to regain her composure. It failed.

"C'mon, Jean," Duncan droned. "Don't run away. I wanna show ya somethin'."

She swallowed the bile that was building up in her throat. This couldn't be happening. Duncan moved in closer and through it all she let a single thought enter her mind because of lack of concentration. She closed her eyes and let the thought envelop her.

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Scott, help me, please.

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It was a wistful night as the soft wind ruffled the trees' leaves. The night sky was as clear as it could be and yet, there wasn't a star in sight. Not that it mattered much to Scott Summers as he leaned against his red and white convertible. His head was raised towards the empty night sky, but that wasn't what he was looking at. Instead, Scott was lost in thought as the dark sky stared back at him in a red tinge. He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed heavily. Looking at the sky wasn't going to do him any good. He had told Jean that he would be back to pick her up later but the truth was that he hadn't even left Duncan's driveway.

It was this strange feeling in his gut. He didn't really know what it was, but it was beckoning him to stay. And so he did. Scott looked at his watch and realized that he had been sitting outside for over an hour. If only he could go inside, get Jean, and tell her how he feels and why she should be with him instead of that idiot she called a boyfriend. But, he couldn't do that. Maybe because he thought that it would completely destroy their friendship; Scott would rather have Jean as a friend than not have her at all. And if she couldn't see how much he truly cared for her, then he would just live with the fact that she could never be his. His. That sounded more like Scott wanted Jean to be his property, but that wasn't it at all. He wanted her to be with him so he could be there and give her everything that she ever wanted or needed.

Scott sighed again. He looked back up at the sky and wished he could even get the nerve to tell her what he truly could say over and over in his head. There were just no words. And Scott wasn't exactly the overly emotional type. No, he never wore his feelings on his sleeve. His hands ran themselves over his face roughly in frustration. God, did he hate Duncan Matthews's parties. For one, there was the fact that the two teens didn't even like each other. And 'like' wasn't the word Scott would have used - loathed would have been the correct way to put it. And the loathing was mutual. Of course, Scott knew why he hated Duncan: and Jean was a part of the reason. However, Scott was completely oblivious as to why Duncan hated him so much. There could've been a million reasons… and Scott wasn't in the mood to ponder that train of thought.

The night air was starting to get chilly but Scott didn't mind too much. He looked around at the rather large grounds that surrounded Duncan's house. There wasn't much and his house didn't really have more than one floor, but was situated so it was built above the pool that they owned. Scott almost smiled at the thought of the pool. Even though the fact was that it wasn't a very fond moment. Scott had been up on the balcony during another one of Duncan's parties earlier on in the year and because of Jean's erupting powers, he was thrown mercilessly into the watery depths below. He had told Duncan, very sarcastically, that he had been testing his chlorine level. Scott didn't know if that was an excuse worth believing, but there wasn't much questioning afterwards. There was less questioning, but definitely more teasing.

Another few minutes passed by as a cloud moved in to cover the light of the moon. Scott finally turned his gaze towards the large crowd up in the house. Maybe it would be a good idea for him to just leave and come back later to pick Jean up. It sure didn't seem like she'd be coming down anytime soon. Maybe she was happy with Duncan. Maybe being at these kinds of parties brought her joy. Maybe… Scott rolled his hidden eyes at himself and shifted his body so that he was now standing at his full height. The soft wind ruffled his chestnut colored hair as he walked around the front of his car to the driver's side door and slid in. he rubbed his face again and turned on the ignition. Just as he was about to pull out of the long drive, he heard it. It was almost natural, the way it stemmed across his mind in that one instant of quiet urgency, but it was surely enough to have Scott jumping out of his car.

_Scott, help me, please._

Was he hearing things correctly? That couldn't have been Jean's voice, could it? Scott slammed the driver's side door closed so hard, it was hard to believe that it hadn't come off its hinges. He didn't even bother to look back at his car before he broke out into a run towards Duncan's house. If Jean had called to him through her telepathy then something must have happened that she didn't have any control over.

Scott quickened his pace.

He finally reached the door to Duncan Matthews's house and violently tore open the door. Scott's ears immediately picked up the large booming sound of the music playing. His red haze of vision registered the half drunk, wild, and partying teenagers dancing around the middle of the living room area. Couples were crouched in corners making out. But, Scott could care less. He wasn't interested in anything that was going on around him. His mind was only focused on one thing and one thing only: finding Jean.

His eyes scanned the area once more, but he didn't see any sign of her… or Duncan, for that matter. Scott began to become very suspicious of the situation. The exceedingly loud music was shaking Scott's eardrums as he made his way around all of his classmates in search of his Jean. Still no sign of her. There were so many people that Scott saw the prospect of actually finding her being very unlikely. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and made his way to the side of the room. He knew that he had to find her. And quickly. Scott was about to give up hope and blame Jean's voice being in his mind to late night hallucinations. That was when he saw it. A sign.

A closed door stood a couple of feet away from Scott.

Narrowing his eyes, Scott walked his tall body the couple of spaces to the suspiciously closed door and found himself standing directly in front of it breathing hard and fast. Scott opened the door and found his anger rising at the scene he found spread out before him. His hands clenched and unclenched. His jaw dropping in utter shock and disbelief and shaking as well from the anger that was threatening to take over. His eyes narrowed dangerously.

There was Jean lying scared on the floor, her entire body shaking. Her clothes were wrinkled and her blouse torn, the bare skin of her shoulder glistening. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She looked as though she had been struggling, but the muted woman who was lying there now had a vacant look in her eyes. She was in shock.

Duncan was toppled on top of her, his shirt off and his jeans unbuttoned and unzipped. At the sudden intrusion, Duncan turned to see who it was, his eyes blurring. But, although he was drunk, he still didn't like who he saw standing there glaring at him and looking very angry indeed.

"What the HELL do you think you're DOING?" Scott bellowed. He stalked into the room, his hands still very much clenched and his jaw set in a grim line. The music outside had abruptly stopped, but Scott didn't notice. He was just thinking about one thing: how he was to go about killing Duncan Matthews.

The rage was threatening to explode as Scott grabbed Duncan roughly by his shirt collar and threw him back against the wall. Duncan's back hit the wall so hard that it cracked. Jean still lay frozen on the floor, staring wide-eyed. Scott moved to reach for Jean, but Duncan, although drunk, was desperately intent on keeping Jean where she was laying. Jean was indeed in shock, but she was starting to visibly shake.

"What d'ya think you're doing, Summers?" Duncan slurred. "Invading my house like this." He started up towards Scott and swayed violently before almost collapsing to the ground. Scott raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't respond. "You don't belong here, Summers. Get out!"

Scott ignored him and walked towards Jean, who still lay on the floor, unmoving. Her eyes flickered up at Scott when he was within reach of her and she immediately shot up and backed away, looking frightened. Her eyes looked around as though she felt she was going to be attacked at any moment and let her guard up. Scott could feel the fear emanating from her. Slowly and gently, he moved his hand toward her face. Jean's eyes widened and she let out a small strangled whimper. Scott truly hated Duncan for this, and he would pay. Scott's heart went out to Jean and he let her feel what he was feeling. He hoped she knew he wouldn't hurt her.

Jean looked at his hand. "I'm not here to hurt you, Jean," Scott whispered. "You know I would never do anything to hurt you. Ever." Jean searched his eyes.

"Scott?" Jean asked, sounding small and scared.

Scott smiled and nodded. He was about to say something to her and help Jean onto her feet when he was slammed backwards by something rough and heavy. "I thought I told you to GET OUT, Summers!" Duncan's fist met Scott's jaw and there was an audible crack. Scott doubled over as he hit the wall. Scott got up, still dazed, but immediately retaliated.

A crowd of students had started to gather around the doorway to watch what was going on. Duncan headed back towards Jean, but was quickly pushed away by Scott. Duncan hit the wall again. Hard. Duncan's body hit the ground with a loud thud as Scott stood back and held his throbbing fist in his hands. Apparently hitting people with his fist wasn't as fun as it looked. Duncan didn't move and Scott could only assume and hope that he was unconscious. Scott turned his attention back to Jean who was starting to sit up, shaking her head as if to clear it. He didn't even have time to notice that the loud music had stopped blaring before he reached Jean and scooped her up into his arms.

Scott dared a glance back at Duncan and knew that he would probably have to answer some kind of questioning later on, but at the moment it was the last thing on his mind. He had to get Jean home and as quickly as he could. Scott made it to the door and pushed past all the people that had stopped partying in order to watch what had happened. Scott rolled his eyes behind his glasses and fought hard not to shove them all out of the way and shout.

"Move," Scott ordered. "There's nothing to see here."

Scott glanced down at Jean. Her eyes were closed and she was desperately clinging to his shirt. She looked so small in his arms and Scott's jaw tightened. Duncan would pay for this. As soon as he got his hands on that punk, he would make him pay. Jean stirred and the vision of Duncan sprawled on the ground was punishment enough for now. At least Jean was okay. For the most part at least.

The house was silent as Scott and Jean departed leaving only wondering minds behind. Of course, they weren't wondering for long because as soon as Scott's foot made it out the door, the music started up again. Scott fought back a groan, but shook his head instead. His car was still parked in the drive and one more look at Jean told him that she was fast asleep as her chest rose and fell rhythmically. Scott placed her in the car gently and then got into the driver's seat. He drove off leaving the wind trailing behind him.

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Jean felt a pair of strong arms gently lay her down on something soft. The light turned on and suddenly, so did Jean's brain. Her eyes snapped open violently as she started kicking her attacker. Her dazed mind played the scenes that had happened over and over again. This time, Jean wouldn't let that happen. Her mind was more clear now and she would fight. She would fight him. Jean kept kicking and was pleased to hear a pained groan escape her attacker's lips… but, that voice didn't sound at all like Duncan's. Oh no, he had gotten one of his friends too. This only made Jean kick harder and harder. Her mouth opened in a scream, but a hand immediately clamped it shut causing the scream to become muffled. Jean's eyes widened as she continued to struggle against the hold that she was in.

"Jean," Scott whispered. "Jean, stop kicking it's only me. It's just me, Jean."

Jean stopped struggling and briefly scanned his mind, shaking her head at the throbbing that it caused. She tried to say his name, but it only came out muffled. Scott stepped into the light and Jean's eyes adjusted, but it was thoroughly uncomfortable because his hand was still clamped over her mouth. It made talking that much harder. Jean couldn't help but roll her eyes and gesture down at his hand with her eyes. She was in no condition to have a telepathic conversation. Her mind was exhausted. Scott would understand.

Scott looked down at his hand. He grinned sheepishly. "Oh, right." He removed his hand quickly. "Sorry about that, but you were gonna scream and y'know…." He ran a shaky hand through his brown hair. Jean noticed he was nervous. But why?

Then it caught her attention. Scott was standing right next to the bed in Jean's room. He had never been in her room before, not at night anyway. Jean realized it was an awkward situation. She tried to sit up in bed, failed miserably, and slumped back down into the softness of the comforter. She was so exhausted and still more than a little shaken. Jean had closed her eyes but Scott's voice interrupted her need for a good night's rest.

"Did Duncan hurt you?" he asked. "Are you alright? I mean when I got there, you were in shock and well, it doesn't seem like you are now, but…." Scott was rambling again. Jean smiled and noticed that his hands were starting to fidget.

"Yes, Duncan did hurt me."

Scott's face darkened and his hands clenched and unclenched. Jean widened her eyes. Surely he didn't think… oh, but that's what Scott would think, wouldn't he. Jean shook her head.

"No, not in the way that you think, Scott," Jean assured him. He relaxed a little bit. "But, what happened tonight -" Jean shuddered "- well, it was horrible." She shuddered again and pulled up her covers higher.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Scott asked.

"No," Jean replied truthfully. "I'm -" She looked down at her hands "- I'm j-just not ready yet and I-I never thought that it w-would ha-happen to m-me before t-tonight," Jean sobbed. Scott was there in an instant. She clung to him and continued to sob into his shoulder for quite awhile. He didn't say anything, just held her. Jean closed her eyes against him, but shuddered involuntarily when Scott started to brush his hand up and down her back, thinking about Duncan, and then remembered that it wasn't Duncan who was holding her. Scott noticed this though.

"Am I hurting you?" Scott asked, panicked as he withdrew his hands from her back. "What is it, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing," Jean answered. "But, D-Duncan, h-he…" She couldn't finish the statement. That would force her to think about it and right now she was trying to block it out of her mind completely.

"Jean, I'm not Duncan," Scott assured her. "I would never try to force you to do anything you didn't want to do. I would never abuse you. I value you too much, you know that, don't you?"

Jean closed her eyes and nodded into his shoulder. "I know. Oh, Scott he was horrible. I should've listened to you from the beginning. Duncan is a jerk. A perverted, rotten jerk and I never should've gone out with him. Oh, why didn't I believe you?"

Scott shrugged and grinned. "No one ever listens to me, Jean. It's a house rule. If anyone does it's a tragedy, but I'm always right, aren't I?"

Jean laughed and punched his arm. It was the first moment since they'd gotten back to the Xavier Institute where she hadn't thought of the incident.

"What would I do without you?" Jean smiled. Scott gave her a half grin and for a moment, Jean thought she saw sadness cross over his features. It must have been her imagination because it disappeared as quickly as it had come. Jean suddenly yawned widely.

Scott looked at her with much concern. "You sure you don't need anything?"

Jean nodded. "Ok," Scott said, "then I better head off before Logan has a field day."

Jean nodded. She just needed to rest her mind. She leaned her head so that it was resting between the crook of Scott's neck and his shoulder. She breathed him in. Jean felt extremely lucky to have Scott in her life. He was nothing short of a miracle. She shuddered to think of what would have happened had he not been there. Jean could surely defend herself when the time called for it, but having the help of a friend was more than enough. A friend…. Jean knew that Scott was much more than a friend to her. What he was as of that moment she didn't know; she had trouble sorting out her feelings and would leave it to another time.

All that mattered now was that Scott was here. Jean was happy to at least have that comfort. Her eyes started to close of their own accord and her body relaxed against Scott's. Her breathing began to even out as she felt Scott lay her down onto her pillows. Scott kissed Jean's forehead lightly and tucked the covers around her. Jean shifted and stirred, but didn't open her eyes. Scott's hand lingered on hers for a moment before he removed it. There was a sudden emptiness where his hand had been. Jean grabbed his hand again and Scott halted.

"Scott?"

"Yeah, Jean?"

"Don't go," Jean pleaded. "Please."

"Jean, you know that I can't," Scott explained. "If Logan catches me, I'm dead where I stand."

"Nothing's gonna happen, Scott," Jean said. "It's just for tonight. Please. I don't wanna be alone." She gave him a pleading look, one filled with fear.

Scott gave in quickly. She obviously knew his weakness. "Ok, but only until you fall asleep."

Jean nodded and gave him space on her bed. Scott sat down and Jean laid her head on his chest. She felt his chest rise and fall as he played with her hair softly. Jean felt safe in his arms and suddenly she felt very tired again. Her mind felt like it had been on overload and she just wanted to rest it. That's all she needed right now. She snuggled closer to Scott and closed her eyes. Her exhaustion had pulled her into her own world of comfort, no worries, and blissful darkness. As Scott's hand rubbed her upper arm, Jean let her body relax. Within minutes she was fast asleep. The last thing she felt was a shift in her bed as the light was clicked off and a small kiss was placed to the top of her head.

Scott was halfway to the door when he stopped to look at her again. He had been so relieved to know that nothing had happened to her with Duncan. Except for the fact that Jean had been scarred for life. But, Scott promised himself, if Jean ever needed him she knew that he would always be there for her. Always. He opened the door to leave.

"Scott?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."


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